Diagon Alley
by Lucius Malloy
Summary: A fluffy oneshot in which Rose and Scorpius fight and make up.


Rose sighed. It was the third time she'd gone through that particular shelf, looking for the one particular book she'd never been able to find... okay, not that she'd been looking for it for more than a week now. But nevertheless, it wasn't in any of the book stores in Ottery St. Catchpole, which meant a trip to Diagon Alley was in order. And Rose hated going to Diagon Alley. It was too busy, too filled with people... and there was always a chance of running into people you didn't particularly want to see. Like Scorpius Malfoy. No way did Rose want to run in to Scorpius – there was too much drama there, too much pain. The end of their sixth year had come not a day too soon, and Rose was _not_ looking forward to seventh-year.

Rose and Scorpius had been friends in their lower years. Both (uncharacteristically for their families) in Ravenclaw, they had that certain sense of kinship that sparks so many lasting friendships. So they'd been study buddies, and later confidants and best friends and everything in between, until that one day.

That one day in early June, right after their exams, when Scorpius had blurted out his love for Rose, Rose had panicked and things had been said. Things neither of them had quite meant, but that had been said and that had hurt all the same. Things that had basically ended with "I never want to see you again!" and left both of them dreading seventh year, since they were, simply put, shoo-ins for Head Boy and Girl. Which meant they'd be forced to spent copious amounts of time in each other's company.

But for now it was still summer, and Rose still had three Scorpius-free weeks to make the most of before that hell also known as school began. It was funny, she mused – she would never have referred to school as 'hell' before the incident. She had loved studying, loved Hogwarts, and loved the people there; now she still loved Hogwarts and studying, but she wasn't nearly as thrilled about the people. Avoiding Scorpius would not be easy, but she would try her best, as much for the rest of the student population's sanity as her own.

Sighing once more, Rose turned on the spot and disappeared.

–––––

Avoiding Scorpius would definitely not be easy if he kept popping up in every bloody place she went to. She'd Apparated to Diagon Alley, opting to appear in front of Flourish and Blotts to minimise any contact with others, but as she'd turned to go into the bookshop, who had she seen? Scorpius, of course. That idiot, they didn't even have book lists yet! What was he doing in a bookshop?

Well, to be fair, what was Rose herself doing in a bookshop (or rather right outside it)? Steeling herself, Rose opened the door and stepped into the cool shop, heading straight for the section she needed without letting her eyes so much as glance in Scorpius's direction. She got there without incident and crouched down to look at the books on the bottom shelf, running her fingers along the spines until she finally found the one she was looking for. She drew it out of the shelf, revelling in its new-book smell, and was just going to stand up and walk to the till when she saw a pair of worn leather boots in front of her nose.

A pair of worn leather boots she knew as well as the back of her hand.

A pair of worn leather boots belonging, as she well knew, to Scorpius Malfoy. Sigh.

Looking up, she followed the boots to the skinny, jeans-clad legs, up and past the Ravenclaw jumper to the painfully familiar face that was wearing a painfully foreign expression. Even thinking of deciphering it made her head hurt.

She rose as gracefully as possible, trying like hell not to show exactly how much seeing him had thrown her. She wasn't expecting him for another three weeks. She was _supposed_ to still have three weeks! And now he was there.

"Rose," he said warily, looking like he was asking permission to say her name.

"Scorpius," she replied, inclining her head slightly in the polite greeting one gives to distant acquaintances, and started walking towards the till. He followed her, and she imagined that if she were to turn around at that precise moment, his blue eyes would have been shining with unshed tears. He always was the emotional type. And indeed, when he opened his mouth to speak again, his voice cracked a little on the first syllable. "Rose, just – please, we need to talk, okay?"

"Kinda busy here, Scorpius," she replied, digging out the money to pay for the book.

"I can see that." An infinitesimal hint of his old dry humour had crept into his voice, and Rose had to forcibly stop herself from smiling fondly at the memories it brought back. She paid for her book, all the while keeping her gaze trained firmly on either the table or the smiling young witch behind the counter, never letting it stray an inch to either side. As soon as she had everything safely back in her bag, she walked out, leaving Scorpius to hurry along behind her. Her plan was to Apparate back home immediately upon stepping out of the shop, but he knew her too well – just before she was within polite Apparating distance, he reached out and grabbed her arm. "Rose, come on. Don't be like this."

"Like what?" she asked, playing dumb.

"You know. Running away from me all the time. We need to talk."

"Oh, are you breaking up with me?" she asked in a faux-hurt tone, realising too late exactly what she was saying. "Um, never mind. What did you need to talk to me about?"

"Not here," Scorpius muttered, suddenly looking rather sheepish. "Come, I'll buy you an ice cream or something."

"I can bloody well get my own ice cream," Rose grumbled as she followed him down the street to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, but past experience told her resistance would be futile in this case, and so she went and sat at the same table they always claimed, from a force of habit. It wasn't until Scorpius was walking towards her with two huge mint-chocolate ice creams and a bemused expression that she realised what she could have been implying, but put it out of her mind. Too many things to worry about at once – like getting her ice cream from Scorpius without touching his fingers too much, something that she didn't manage quite as well as she'd hoped. She hoped he couldn't feel her fingers shaking, or the slight shock she felt as they touched. The places his fingers had glanced upon seemed to burn even after she withdrew her hand... She murmured an awkward "thanks" and turned ever-so-slightly to the side.

They slurped their ice creams in silence for a while, until quite out of the blue Scorpius said, "Look, I'm sorry. For what I said in June, I mean. I shouldn't have..."

Something in Rose's chest was suddenly heavier than it had been, and she lifted her gaze to meet his almost afraid of what she'd find there. Contempt, maybe? Pity? Then she reminded herself that Scorpius didn't know he should pity her and looked him right in the eye.

And away again, possibly more confused than ever. What was that expression all about? She was just about to say something, anything, when he continued: "Well, I mean, I _should_ have. I totally should have. Just, not in that way. I didn't mean to freak you out." That suddenly-heavy-something in Rose's chest heard these words and spread its wings in preparation to soar, but her head was still a few steps behind and therefore the next thing to come out of her mouth was "Huh?"

Scorpius laughed a small, nervous laugh. "Rosie, what I'm trying to say is... I still mean what I said, in June. I still mean it. I love you. And maybe I shouldn't have sprung it on you like that... but I can't help it, can I?"

And suddenly it wasn't only Scorpius laughing small, nervous laughs. "I – what? Can you say that again?" Rose asked, hardly daring to believe it.

"What, that I can't help it?"

"No, the other part."

"I love you?" And maybe it was clichéd, but it was at that precise moment that Rose Weasley, seventeen years old, knew that the boy sitting opposite her at their favourite booth in Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour was _the one. _It was quite thoroughly ridiculous really, considering how the pair had spent the summer hating each other and dreading returning to school because of that, but at that moment in the corner booth it was just so _right_.

"You know," Rose said, "that's funny. Cause I think I love you too. Which I should have realised a long time ago."

"Can you say that again?" Scorpius asked, a grin creeping onto his face.

"What, that I should have realised it a long time ago?"

"No, the other part."

"I love you?" And it wasn't quite clear exactly what happened next, except that one moment they were sitting on opposite sides of the booth with ice creams in their hands, and the next the ice creams lay forgotten on the table and the two teenagers were in one corner of the bench, wrapped in the kind of hug that was infinitely more intimate than a kiss could ever be.

**THE END**

_A/N: Yay for cutesy fluff that makes no sense? I'm pretty sure I got this as a writing prompt weeks ago, I just didn't get around to writing it until now... and just by the way, I haven't slept in like almost 40 hours, so any and all silly mistakes can be attributed to that._


End file.
